jhlankford

My wife had an episode the other day. Her 2000 Max began sputtering badly at start up with the SES light coming on as well. She turned off the car and recranked it. It was then fine without the SES light. Today she called me to say that the same thing has happened again. This time it got better, but didn't go away completely and the SES light remains on this time, too.
I have some ideas, but I need some feedback on this one. Help!
JL

t56gen3

iTrader: (1)

U need to get the codes pulled. Could be lots of things. I'd suspect coilpacks if I was a guessin' man.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

MAF SENSOR

MoCoMax

I'd guess coils, too. Same thing happened to my 2000.

jhlankford

Just picked up car from my wife. A buddy runs a big parts house and said to run some injector cleaner through first. When I went to pour it in, I noticed the gas cap about to fall off. No vacuum, eh? I had the same problem before on a Ford. Anyhow, SES light was still on when I got home. Coil packs?? New one to me. Unfamiliar, but sounds pricey. Love gettin my hands dirty. Coil packs... as in the old coil set up? Just double? Please let me know about the above and the coils. Waitin' to hear....
JL

t56gen3

iTrader: (1)

Get ur SES codes pulled first before you start into it too far. The fact that it seems to be intermittent makes me think ignition coils. I'm not sure on the VQ30s, but I think they are coil-on-plug like the VQ35--one coil for each cylinder.

TimW

iTrader: (6)

gas cap off? anything *in* the gas???

MoCoMax

5th Gen Maximas seem to have a problem with lousy coils (there's one for each cylinder, mounted over the top of the spark plug). They're about $40 each from DaveB, but more like $60+ from your neighborhood dealer, I think. They're not tough to replace, though the ones on the firewall side of the motor can be tricky to get too - you need the right tools.

I had one go at 32K miles, and the dealer would only replace the bad one, even though there's a TSB out on them. I'm at 36K now, and have had no problems since the one was replaced.

As far as the gas cap is concerned, that alone can cause the SES to go on - it's the first thing to look at anytime a code is thrown. The stumbling isn't likely to be caused by a loose gas cap, though.

jhlankford

Well folks, I don't think its a coilpack. The car is running fine. As I indicated, this is only the second time it has happened. It only lasts about 1-3 minutes. Dirty injectors? Maybe so. Not enough octane? Another clue. In any case, I've filled 'er up with premium instead of mid-grade, added some very good injector cleaner, and it seems just fine. However, the SES light is still on. Is there a home-made way to reset it? Can Autozone do it? Hum....
JL

t56gen3

iTrader: (1)

Yup, pull codes first (as mentioned above.) I think Autozone can do this. It takes an OBD II scanner to retrieve codes.

MoCoMax

When my coil went - the problem was intermittent. It actually got worse as the car warmed up - it ran just fine when it was cold. That doesn't sound like a typical electrical problem, but it was, nonetheless. Get the code checked - if it's a misfire, I'd be willing to bet it's a coil.